


Men of Adjustment

by MouseBouse



Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fashion Designer!Magnus, M/M, Teacher!Alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 16:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6292132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MouseBouse/pseuds/MouseBouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I walk past the same exact people at the same exact time in the same exact places on my way to work, so I don’t even have to look where I’m going anymore. Why am I suddenly on the floor, who are you, and why were you in my way?’ AU</p>
<p>In which Alec and Magnus run into each other, quite literally, and there may or may not be a wingman squirrel involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Men of Adjustment

**Author's Note:**

> Can you tell I’m studying to be a Math teacher? I’ll throw Alec into teaching any chance I get, and I’m not even sorry.  
> Also, the squirrel wasn’t supposed to be such a crucial character, and for that I _am_ sorry.
> 
> (You can find me on [Tumblr](http://mousebouse.tumblr.com).)

 

Alexander Lightwood was a man of habit.

He would always set his alarm for 5:45am, then snooze it twice and get up at 6:15.

He would always quickly read through a few news articles on his laptop while eating cereal. 

He would always shave and take a 5-minute shower after breakfast.

He would always brush his teeth with his right hand while using his left one to check through his work bag to make sure he had everything.

(He would always wear the same pair of grey jeans on Fridays, which his students may have noticed as he heard them mention how good he looked in them.)

He would always leave the apartment at 7:20, his earphones in, the same playlist every day, up to the order that the shuffle button came up with. 

And most importantly, he would always see the same people on his fifteen-minute walk to work.

 

The lady from across the hall with that old-people purple hair would be with her dog on the lawn in front of their building. They would wave to each other and the animal would let out an angry bark, one of those that most tiny dogs have when they get annoyed by their own tininess. 

He would walk past an elementary school and hear dozens of voices from the crowd gathered in front of it, the same three always a bit louder than others. There was one girl, her blond hair usually in pigtails, who would talk about the toys her dad brought her and her little sister from his last business trip. There was a boy with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack who constantly yelled that _Raphael was better than Donatello_ , even though no one was trying to disprove it. And lastly, there was the young teacher who would always arrive just as Alec walked by, greeting the children with a wide smile that showed off her white teeth, her bright red hair up in a ponytail. The kids seemed to love her, as they ran to get as close to her as they could before they had to go inside.

When he arrived at the first crossing, he would have to wait precisely seven seconds before the light turned green. He would then cross the street and walk around the corner and past the bakery, where the fair-haired guy with a goatee would just be exiting, already tearing off a piece of his bagel and giving it to his husky that was waiting patiently next to the door. Alec would always exchange smiles with the guy and reach down to pet the dog.

He would still be smiling when he arrived at the second crossing, and his mood would never be ruined by the couple arguing loudly on what he approximated to be the fourth floor of the skyscraper next to him. If he really thought about it, he would say that both girls had their points, but maybe a bit less yelling would be better for getting those points across and not ruining their relationship. 

He would then walk through the middle of the park, reaching into his bag to find the walnuts he prepared for the squirrel that would always be on the first bench on his right. He would put the nuts on the ground slowly and keep walking, turning around four steps later to see the animal munching on them happily, wagging its fluffy tail so as to warn any others of its kind to stay away from its breakfast. He would see two boys from one of his classes sitting on the next bench, greeting him as they waited for their female friend. He would mumble a reply, never sure how loud he actually was since the music was blaring in his ears. He would then walk by the lake, throwing a quick glance at the swans and ducks swimming carelessly.

As he crossed the football field next to the school, he would see the coach having a discussion with the team captain, the entire team already sweaty and exhausted despite it being too early for that much physical activity, in Alec’s opinion.

Then he would enter the school, and that’s where his day would stop being predictable. Some days, his students were eager to participate in whatever lesson they were doing, other days, getting anything other than _When are we ever going to need this?_ out of them was an accomplishment. Some days, he stayed at work until 1pm, other days, until 4. Some days, he would catch a ride home with a co-worker, other days, he would walk back the same way.

Most of Alexander Lightwood’s life was calculable, and he liked it that way.

***

Magnus Bane was a man of chance.

He would set his alarm for three hours before he had to be at work, and snooze it as many times as he felt like on that particular morning, anywhere between zero and four.

He would eat cereal for breakfast one day, eggs and bacon the next, and nothing the day after.

He would take a shower and style his hair after breakfast, which took between fifteen and thirty minutes, depending on whether or not he needed to shave, and how badly his hair was messed up from sleeping.

He would then brush his teeth and do his makeup, the latter taking another fifteen to thirty minutes.

(He would never wear the same outfit more than once, switching in up with at least a difference in his nail polish color and the accent jewelry.)

He would leave the apartment between 7:15 and 7:30, and that meant he would either take a leisurely walk to his studio, which was about 15 minutes away on foot, or speed-walk so his first client wouldn’t be left waiting.

And most importantly, he would never take the same route two days in a row, instead choosing a different turn, but always arriving at his destination.

 

Sometimes, there would be no one in the street. Other times, he would see teenagers arriving at the high school across the road, most of them looking like they’d rather be lobotomized than go inside, which was understandable, at least from what he remembered of his own high school days.

Sometimes, he would take the longest way around to work. Other times, he would take the shortest one. Occasionally, he would even walk through the park behind the high school, enjoying the morning air and the chirping of birds in the surrounding trees. He would sometimes see a squirrel next to the last bench on his left, its cheeks stuffed with nuts it was still picking up off the ground. If he really thought about it, he would wonder whether someone purposely brought them. He liked to think so, wondering how nice this person must be to other people, if they worried about the eating habits of random rodents in the park.

Depending on the day, he would stop at one of the generic coffee shops on his way and get anything from a simple black coffee and a chocolate muffin to a non-fat Frappuccino, extra whipped cream, and chocolate sauce and a glazed donut with chocolate sprinkles and cinnamon.

Arriving at the studio, he would either open the door on the first try, or spend 30 seconds fumbling with the key, as there was a strange and unbelievably specific unlocking mechanism that he still struggled with, even after working there for three years.

When he managed to get in, he would run his hand over the different fabrics hanging left of the door before sitting at his desk and going over the designs he did the day before. He was always a better judge of quality after he let them sit for a night, so at this point he would decide which of the drawings were worth further development, and which would join the ever-growing recycling stack.

Soon, his clients would start coming in, either ten minutes early or half an hour late, but almost always inconsiderate of the fact that he had other people to design for. Sometimes, the client would be a business man in need of a new suit for his next _meeting_ , which, given the wedding ring he kept fumbling with while talking about it, Magnus assumed was _not_ with his wife. Other times, it would be a teenage girl asking him to design her a dress for her Sweet 16 party, adding that she didn’t have much money so he shouldn’t go too overboard. In situations like this, Magnus made sure to add extra bedazzle to the product and lower the final price by at least 20 percent. He would just add it to the cheater’s bill.

The only constant in his day was the take-out he would order for dinner, although the choice of cuisine varied from fast food to Thai, before relaxing in front of the TV with his tabby cat purring as it situated itself on his lap. He would always start dozing off quite early right there in the living room, only moving to his bedroom when he heard the bell from the church near his building chiming at midnight. The cat would meow angrily at being moved before trotting to the room with him and curling up on the empty side of the bed.

Most of Magnus Bane’s life was unpredictable, and he liked it that way.

***

Alec walked out of the building, his breath immediately coming out in visible puffs. He tightened his long black coat and bowed his head so his nose was burrowed deeper into the light blue scarf that covered half of his face. It was too cold for the end of February, he thought as he raised an arm, his mittened hand waving to the old lady who was obviously shaking from the cold, her puppy wearing a coat that looked, and probably was, more expensive than Alec’s. 

The low temperature did nothing to disrupt the children’s mood, he noticed as the usually pigtailed girl ran past him, pink ear muffs on her head, carrying a still-boxed Barbie doll in her hand and yelling for her friend.

The husky stood on its hind legs as Alec approached, already waiting for the inevitable petting. His owner came out smiling and sent a short greeting Alec’s way before taking the pet’s leash and walking in the direction that Alec had just come from.

There was silence as he approached the skyscraper, which was unusual. He assumed the girls were tired of fighting until he noticed _4th floor apartment for sale_ printed on a yellow A4 paper, followed by a dozen tearable phone numbers. He reached out and took one, pocketing it. He wasn’t particularly interested in moving, but this building was nice and closer to the school, so it was worth giving it a thought.

The squirrel had already started coming out, despite the cold weather, and had seemed very disappointed yesterday when Alec walked by without leaving it anything to eat. He hadn’t known it would be there, but today he came prepared. He left the nuts a little further from the bench than usual, not wanting to disturb the animal, and walked his usual four steps away before turning to look at it, his feet still moving forward. He knew there would be no one in his way before he reached the bench his students always sat on, so he kept looking back at his fluffy friend.

***

Magnus left his apartment early enough to take a stroll through the park. If he had known it would be this cold, he probably would’ve gone another way, but now that he was already outside, he wouldn’t change his plans. He was not one to turn back on his decisions… most of the time.

There were about a dozen teenagers in front of the school when he walked past, most of them grouped together to stay warm. As he walked across the football field, he saw the team arguing, presumably about the fact they had to be there at this hour.

Entering the park, he saw a blond man standing near the lake, his child, who looked about five years old, not that Magnus knew enough about children to say if that was actually the correct age, throwing bread crumbs toward it. Suddenly, the boy shrieked and started sprinting away from the water, closely followed by an angry looking duck. The man had a terrified expression on his face, and even from this distance Magnus could hear him screaming something about his grandfather teaching him to _never trust a duck_.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he continued walking. He scrolled through the notes he kept on it, comparing them to the entries in the planner he held in his other hand. Several of his usual clients would be stopping by today, among them, a middle-aged lady who wanted a new business suit for the celebration of her bank account balance getting another digit. He had been designing for her since that balance had been in mere hundreds, giving her discounts at the time, and from then on, she had come to him with more and more complicated requests, the tips she left eventually becoming larger than the price of the outfit itself.

Magnus glanced up for a second and saw the squirrel a little further away. It seemed to be picking something off the ground and he smiled at its enthusiasm, not paying attention to the path in front of him. 

***

Alec had made it his mission in life to always take the same route to work. And yet, as he walked forward while looking at the squirrel over his shoulder, he found himself colliding with a concrete pole in the middle of his usual path. 

And just like that, he was lying on the ground, his work bag next to him, along with his phone in its glittery case. Wait. His phone _didn’t have_ a glittery case. He tried to sit up, only then noticing the hand that was stretched out toward him, dangling dangerously close to his face. _Oh_. He hadn’t hit a pole, but a person. A well-built person, apparently. The other man hadn’t been knocked down, it would seem, and there was a halo of light around his head as it was blocking Alec’s view of the morning sun.

Alec accepted the help and was pulled up to his feet by the shiniest man he had ever seen. Literally. Standing this close to him, he could see that the man’s face was shimmering, and Alec had trouble looking away. He was wearing black eyeshadow, and the shimmer turned out to be glitter on his cheeks. Alec stared at his green lipstick until he heard the stranger mumble his apologies and something about looking at Alec’s squirrel (yes, Alec thought of the animal as _his_ ), before reaching down to pick up the glittery phone and the bag, pocketing the former, giving over the latter. 

Most people would, at this point, thank the other person, apologize for not looking where they were going, and walk away. Yet Alec’s brain decided it would be best if he asked the man, in a very heated tone, who the hell he thought he was, being in Alec’s way. The stranger looked slightly taken aback, before saying how he lived his live as an adventure, and today’s adventure had led him to this particular place at this particular moment, adding how some people might call it destiny.

Alec rolled his eyes and mumbled a _Whatever_ , before pushing past the man, hitting his arm, and speeding off to work. 

***

Magnus had made it his mission in life to never take the same route to work two days in a row. And yet, as he left the building the next morning, he found himself walking across the football field and into the park once again.

And just like that, he was on his way to the place of the infamous run-in that took place yesterday. He hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going, and apparently, neither had the other man. They had stumbled into each other forcefully, the man getting thrown to the ground, and Magnus barely managing to stay standing. 

He had helped the man up and was rewarded with a close-up of amazingly blue eyes, the kind of blue we see when looking at the midday sky. His hair was black, sticking up like he had the habit of running his hands through it a lot. Magnus had offered an apology for the impact and bent down to gather the belongings that had fallen out of their hands. He quickly checked to see if his phone was still working before handing over the other man’s bag, absentmindedly noticing the weight of it and wondering for a second what exactly he had in there. It had to be books. Either that or concrete blocks.

The black-haired stranger had looked shocked for another moment, and then his deep voice became, for a lack of a better word, _bitchy_. He had said something about this being his path and how Magnus shouldn’t have been there. Magnus had had no idea how to respond, so he had decided to go with the truth, adding just a hint of flirting. 

It had turned out to be a bad idea, as the man had looked extremely agitated and walked away in a hurry, leaving Magnus in a stare-off with the squirrel that had seemed angry to have its meal interrupted.

Now he saw him again, crouching to put something next to the bench at the end of the park. So _he_ was the one that kept feeding the squirrel. Well, at least he was polite to animals.

***

On Friday morning, Alec woke up with a slight ache in his back, presumably from his close-contact with the frozen ground yesterday. He thought about the encounter for a second, before filing it away deep into his mind, into the part labeled _one-time occurrences_. That’s what that was. An unexpected event. An anomaly. A miscalculation. He would be taking that same route to work today, and there would be no strange, glittery men in his way.

He decided to ignore another part of his brain that tried to tell him how the man had been ridiculously attractive and proportionally polite, and Alec ended up being a jerk. The ignoring worked until he entered the park and crouched to leave some walnuts for his pet, or the closest thing he had to one, and he heard a somewhat familiar voice warning him of his approach. 

He straightened and saw his mystery man, as his sister had dubbed him when he told her about his day yesterday, walking toward him with a smirk on his face, his hands up as if he were surrendering. 

Again, most people would, at this point, say _hello_ , or return the smile. Alec didn’t. Instead the first words out of his mouth were an apology for his behavior the previous morning and the first action was an extended hand. He introduced himself, smiling widely. The man, Magnus, as it turned out, accepted both the hand and the apology, smiling back at Alec.

He had a nice smile, Alec noticed. There was less glitter on his face today, but the stuff in his hair made up for it. He was wearing a long red coat that matched the nail polish Alec saw while shaking his hand. Realizing he had been checking the man out without saying anything, he slowly looked at his face, judging the reaction. Magnus’s smirk was back, one eyebrow raised cockily, daring Alec. 

Never one to turn down a good dare, Alec pulled out all his best moves. He may not date often, but that doesn’t mean he can’t flirt when he wants to. And right now, being late to work be damned, he _wants_ to. Looking Magnus straight in the eye, he licked his lips slowly, smiled so his teeth were showing, ran a hand through his hair to make it stick up in that post-make-out-session way, and with no preamble, his voice steady and deeper than usual, asked Magnus to go out with him.

The shimmery man’s face showed surprise as he asked if Alec usually asked strange men in parks on dates. Alec replied that it wasn’t necessarily a date, but a coffee, a way of properly apologizing for his rudeness. Not waiting for a response, he reached into Magnus’s coat pocket and pulled out his phone, thankful for the lack of a pass code, and put his number in, immediately sending an empty text to himself, wanting to have Magnus’s number right away. He turned the phone over to its owner, telling him to use it. He then brushed his hand down Magnus’s arm and said a quiet goodbye as he walked off.

***

On Monday morning, Magnus woke up with a broad smile on his face, reaching out to pet the cat that was stretching and meowing next to him. He thought about the previous evening, about the _not necessarily a date, but a coffee_ he went on. It totally _was_ a date. Alec had been a perfect gentleman, opening the door for him when they arrived at the café and offering to pay despite knowing that Magnus’s income was bigger than his.

 

Three days ago, after once again being left to look after the man as he walked away, Magnus had continued his walk to work. He had only barely managed to exit the park when his phone warned him of a new message. He had smiled even before looking at it, already knowing who it would be from. They had texted throughout the day, finally agreeing to meet up at _their spot_ on Sunday evening.

Magnus had worn a purple shirt with white skinny jeans, cowboy boots on his feet. His hair was spiked up, and he had put a tiny sprinkle of violet glitter in it to compliment the shirt. Black eyeliner had framed his green eyes, just a bit of lip-gloss on his lips. He had looked in the mirror before leaving the apartment and thought he looked great. And then he had reached the park and seen Alec, and _great_ suddenly had a whole new meaning. 

The man had been out of his black coat, instead wearing a leather jacket over a tight-fitting white shirt and black jeans, with combat boots that gave him a slight height advantage over Magnus. There had been a blush on his cheeks that could either have been from the cold or because of the fact that Magnus was unabashedly looking him over, his eyes wide.

An awkward moment had ensued when they walked up to each other, neither one sure how they should greet the other. In the end, Alec had opted for a coy smile and dragged his hand over Magnus’s arm until he reached his hand and interlaced their fingers. At that point, it had been Magnus’s turn to blush. They had sat and talked over plain black coffees for hours, Magnus learning about Alec’s siblings; his sister was studying fashion design and Magnus promised to look her up, and his little brother was still in high school, working hard to get into Harvard. In return, Magnus had told him about his adoptive family (better than his original one, but still kind of horrible) and his move to the States (definitely worth the trouble).

They had walked back to the park together, hand-in-hand again, and under the light of the full moon he had kissed Alec, and Alec had kissed him back. The first brush of their lips had had his stomach doing flips, making him feel like a teenager having his first ever kiss. He was pretty sure that Alec had been thinking the same thing, as he had felt a small gasp against his lips before the man had placed his right hand on the back of Magnus’s neck, long fingers playing with his hair. His own free hand had found its way under Alec’s jacket and stopped on his hip, squeezing lightly, the fingers of their other hands still intertwined. 

After pulling away, Alec had looked into his eyes and smiled. He had promised to text him soon before pecking him on the lips once more and turning away slowly, unwillingly untangling his fingers from Magnus’s.

 

The buzzing of his phone pulled Magnus back from reminiscing, and he unlocked it to see a message from Alec, asking if he would be walking through the park that day. He replied with an affirmative before going to the kitchen and rummaging through his cupboards in search of walnuts for the squirrel. He felt like he owed the little guy, the least he could do was bring him something to eat. He would have to ask Alec if he had given the rodent a name yet. If not, maybe they could think of one together.

***

Alexander Lightwood and Magnus Bane were men of adjustment.

They would set their alarms so that they had enough time to wake up, either by sleepy morning kisses, or, if one of them (read: Magnus) was particularly lazy, _other_ ways of persuasion.

They would talk about the day ahead of them while having breakfast and coffee.

They would rarely shower together in the morning; Alec would do the bathroom routine quickly, leaving Magnus to do his makeup in peace.

They would fix each other’s hair and smooth out any wrinkles in their clothing.

(They would pick each other’s outfits for the day. Alec’s students notice. So do Magnus’s clients.)

They would leave the apartment at 7:25, sharing a quick kiss in front of their building before leaving in opposite directions, as their new fourth-floor loft was right in between Alec’s school and Magnus’s studio, smiles on both their faces. 

And most importantly, they would always find their way home to each other at the end of the day, no matter the route they took to get there.


End file.
